Download Policy on Infectious Diseases

PUEBLO COMMUNITY COLLEGE DENTAL HYGIENE PROGRAM
PROTOCOL ON INFECTIOUS DISEASES
Pueblo Community College is ethically obligated to protect the privacy and confidentiality of any faculty member,
student, or staff member who has tested positive for an infectious disease. Dental personnel who pose a risk of
transmitting an infectious disease must consult with appropriate health-care professionals to determine whether
continuing to provide professional services represents a material risk to the patient and/or self. If a dental faculty,
student, or staff member learns that continuing to provide professional services represents a material risk to
patients, that person should so inform the dental hygiene chairperson. If so informed, the dental hygiene
chairperson will take steps consistent with the advice of appropriate health-care professionals and with current
federal, state, and/or local guidelines and will review matters on a case-by-case basis to decide what actions, if any,
need to be taken to protect against direct threat of harm to others. In addition, the dental hygiene chairperson will
facilitate appropriate counseling and follow up care, and will participate in establishing retraining and/or counseling
programs for those faculty, staff, and students who do not continue to perform patient care procedures.
Qualified individuals will not be denied admission to the dental hygiene program or employment as a faculty or staff
member solely on the basis of HIV status. A dental hygiene program student, faculty, or staff member in direct
patient contact, who believes he/she to be at risk has an ethical responsibility to know his/her HIV antibody status.
The testing decision will be voluntary, but due to the nature of the disease, the student, faculty, or staff member in
direct patient contact is encouraged to be tested.
All dental hygiene program students and faculty are professionally and ethically obligated to provide patient care
with compassion and respect for human dignity. No dental hygiene student or faculty may refuse to treat a patient
solely because the patient is high risk for contracting, or is HIV positive, or has hepatitis, or any other infectious
disease.
PUEBLO COMMUNITY COLLEGE DENTAL HYGIENE PROGRAM
PROTOCOL ON INFECTIOUS DISEASE TESTING AND VACCINATION
Pueblo Community College's Dental Hygiene Program will facilitate the availability of testing of faculty, staff, and
students for those infectious diseases presenting a documented risk to dental personnel and patients. Further, the
Dental Hygiene Program will make available the hepatitis B vaccine and appropriate vaccine follow-up to employees
such as faculty and staff who are in direct patient contact, in accordance with Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) regulations. Also, in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
guidelines, all students should (1) be immunized against the hepatitis B virus as part of their preparation for clinical
training, (2) demonstrate proof of immunity, or (3) formally decline vaccination. Students who decline to be
vaccinated are required to sign a formal declination waiver form, consistent with procedures promulgated by OSHA
for employees. Pueblo Community College's Dental Hygiene Program strongly encourages faculty, staff, and students
to be immunized against not only hepatitis B, but other infectious diseases such as mumps, measles, and rubella,
using standard medical practices. In addition, the Dental Hygiene Program requires initial baseline testing for
tuberculosis.
I have read the Pueblo Community College Dental Hygiene Program’s Policies on Infectious Diseases and Infectious
Disease Testing and Vaccination.
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Applicant Signature
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